A central office network comprises a plurality of nodes. A link between two or more nodes exist to enable communication between the nodes. In an Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) network within the central office, the link between the two or more nodes are enabled by a Fiber Optic (FO) patch cord. When a link is broken due to fault in a FO patch cord, the FO patch cord must be replaced. A technician has to replace the faulty FO patch cord by connecting a new FO patch cord to the nodes. Due to large number of FO patch cords, often the technician may not connect the new FO patch cord to the correct nodes. Also, the FO patch cords are placed in a tray placed at a first node. The tray may be placed below racks of the first node. Further, the FO patch cords are wired to the second node. Typically, the wiring is made by passing the FO patch cords underneath tiles of the central office. At the second node, the FO patch cords emerges and are placed on another tray, which may be placed below racks of the second node. Thus, the technician cannot identify connectivity of the FO patch cord between the first node and the second node. Also, the first node and the second node may be at different rooms and different floors of the central office. Hence, tracking the FO patch cords is a tedious task.
Traditional systems provide solutions to identify correct nodes for connecting the new FO patch cord. One such system comprises providing physical connections (wire) from one node to another node. Such systems result in additional hardware, making the telecommunication system more complex. Also, cost associated with providing physical connections to every node is very high. Other traditional systems involve installation of a transmitter at one node and a receiver at another node. Whenever, there is a fault in a node, the transmitter transmits a signal with various parameters related to the node, and a receiver at the other end receives the transmitted message. Thus, a technician can identify the correct node and can replace the FO patch cord. However, many of the central office is provided with a Radio Frequency (RF) shield to reduce electromagnetic noise affecting optical signals transmitted in the FO patch cord. The RF shield blocks the RF signals, and the traditional systems may not be able to transmit information to identify the correct node. Also, the installation of the transmitter and receiver involves high cost. Thus, the traditional systems do not provide an efficient and cost effective solution for identifying connectivity between nodes in the central office network.
The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.